12 dead at D.C. Navy Yard, plus lone gunman

The Pentagon has stepped up security following the shooting as a “proactive, precautionary measure” that was not due to a “specific threat,” said Pentagon spokesman George Little.

The Navy, meanwhile, issued an “order to account” for uniformed personnel assigned to commands in the Washington area. The order also applies to family members and civilian employees, the service said in a statement.

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Breaking: Shooting at Navy Yard

Chief Medical Officer of the MedStar Washington Hospital Center Janis Orlowski confirmed that three patients in critical condition have been admitted into the center’s trauma unit and said their chances of survival are “very good.”

“All are alert and speaking,” Orlowksi said.

Orlowski said a male police officer with multiple gunshot wounds to his legs was in the operating room. Two female patients are also there, one with a gunshot wound to the shoulder and another who suffered a gunshot wound to both the head and hand.

Lanier later said at an evening press conference that a police officer who sustained serious injuries was out of surgery and recovering.

Orlowski said it is suspected that a semi-automatic rifle was used due to the “rapid succession” at which the patients heard the shots and that the center “will get bullet fragments and get more information.”

Emergency personnel were on the scene and employees at the base had been told to “shelter in place” at the Navy Yard after the shooting began, according to the Navy. Shots were first reported at 8:20 a.m. at the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters, where about 3,000 people work.

An employee who evacuated the Navy Yard building said she heard about seven gun shots while getting breakfast in the cafeteria.

“I was in the cafeteria I just paid for my breakfast and I hear ‘pop pop pop,’ and the girl that was with me, I said, ‘someone is shooting,’” said Patricia Ward, who does logistics management at the Washington Navy Yard. “Everybody in the cafeteria kind of panicked and then a three second break, and then there was a ‘pop pop pop pop’ and everyone started running.”

Ward, who said the shots came from the fourth floor, added there was debate among employees whether to stay inside the cafeteria. However, as more gun shots rang out, she said everyone ran out the side door in the cafeteria.

Ana Johnston, a Navy contractor who works at the Navy Yard, missed being at the shooting by a few minutes because she was caught in traffic and late to work. She said the sound of gunfire isn’t unusual at the Navy Yard, as there are often military ceremonies held there. But, she said, coworkers she’s been in contact with quickly realized this time was different.

“It took a few seconds to register what was going on,” Johnston said. “It’s hard to believe, especially on a military installation with all the security.”

Another witness, Capt. Mark Vandroff, said he was on the third floor of the building in a conference room when bullets came through the walls. “No one was hurt,” Vandroff said. “I’m afraid we did more damage to the furniture trying to barricade ourselves in. We flipped over tables, we flipped over chairs trying to barricade ourselves in.”

“The bullets flew over our head,” he added.

He also said the building where the shootings occurred handles procurement for the Navy. The fourth floor, where most reports say the shooting occurred, houses engineers, purchasing contractors and the legal team, he said.

Six D.C. public schools and one administrative office were placed on lockdown during the crisis. The schools are Amidon-Bowen Elementary, Brent Elementary, Eastern High School, Eliot-Hine Middle, Jefferson Academy and Tyler Elementary. And the Van Ness Administrative Building was also locked down in an abundance of caution, DCPS spokeswoman Melissa Salmanowitz said.

The Department of Transportation, located several blocks from the Navy Yard, was also placed on lockdown, according to an official with the agency. Later in the day, employees were once again allowed to leave the building.

Metrorail was operating normally, including the Green Line, which runs through the Navy Yard station near the shooting, according to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The Navy Yard station was open, WMATA spokesman Dan Stessel told POLITICO.

The U.S. Capitol Police, who protect the Capitol complex and its surroundings, said they were providing “mutual support” to the Metropolitan Police Department at Navy Yard. No Capitol Police officers were injured, according to Lt. Kimberly Schneider, a spokesman for the department.

“The USCP continues to maintain an enhanced security posture on Capitol Grounds,” Schneider said in an email. “There is no known threat to the Capitol Complex.”

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert, who lives at the Navy Yard, was home at the time of the shooting but has “safely evacuated,” a Navy official confirmed to POLITICO.

Baseball star Bryce Harper, whose Washington Nationals play just a few blocks from the Navy Yard, tweeted about the shootings Monday morning.

“Thoughts & prayers go out to the victims and responders at the Navy Yard!” Harper wrote. “It is absolute sickening that people do this! #NavyYardShooting.”

A game scheduled for Monday night against the Atlanta Braves was postponed.

“The safety of our fans is our utmost priority,” the Nationals said in a statement. “As we have throughout the day, the Nationals security personnel will continue to work closely with all levels of law enforcement to reinforce the already high level of security in place at Nationals Park.”